C: Nomenclature ~ What’s a “Cabin?”

cabinI love words.  As a part of that interest, I love to consider regional differences in language.  In my next life, I think I’ll be a linguist.  This morning brought a discussion/disagreement on this very topic.  Although I doubt it is a “regional” question in this particular usage, I find it interesting.  (Yes, I am easily amused)

Son and I were riding in the car together.  We passed a lovely, two-story, square-log home that is on our regular route.  (V will know immediately the place I am talking about).   He commentedlog house on it, calling it a “log cabin.”  This is NOT an actual picture of the place, but is here for illustrative purposes (such as the size of the structure!)

This is reminiscent of his father, who also made this mistake of nomenclature.    The house in question must be over 3,000 square feet—a “cabin” it’ ain’t.   The second picture on the page ain’t a “cabin,” either.

cabin2I remarked on this, saying I did not think a “cabin” could actually be over two rooms.  He argued.

In fact, Merriam-Webster online defines “cabin” as “a small, simple house made of wood” (disregarding the part about airplanes and ships).  Therefore, I rest my case!

He’s not convinced, however, feeling that the logs are the defining element of a “cabin.” 

Wrong, wrong, wrong again.  Youlumber cabin can have a lumber-sided cabin—but not a brick one (in my mind).

Okay, weigh in—what constitutes a “cabin” for you?  --C

Comments

Vee said…
A cabin must be logs and have only one room. LOL. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to define something for myself. What your son wishes to call a cabin is a lodge. What would you call it?
January 7, 2014 at 12:19 PM
Stickhorsecowgirls said…
Yes, I quite agree with Vee! What "A" is calling a cabin IS definitely a lodge!
Cowgirl V
January 7, 2014 at 7:59 PM
Vivianne said…
LOL that last pic is a garden shed. Or *maybe* a type of summer house :)
January 10, 2014 at 1:00 AM
LivingVintage said…
I totally agree with you. A cabin is a structure of 1-2 rooms, made with logs!
January 11, 2014 at 10:30 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Guest Post by K: Whirlwinds of Change & a New Normal

Image
  Cowgirl V:  Shortly after the tornado that struck Tuscaloosa, AL, I asked my sister if she would consider writing a guest post about her experiences there.  She is a registered nurse who previously worked with Hurricane Katrina refugees. V   Enormous, menacing killer tornado looming over Tuscaloosa, Alabama April 27, 2011   Well, it has finally started happening.  I knew the day would come, but it has taken much longer than I expected.  You see, I live in a tornado ravaged city.  The April 27 devastation that occurred in Tuscaloosa, Alabama did not destroy my home.  In fact, we had no damage.   We were out of town when the storm hit but were glued to the television as we watched it begin to tear across the city.  I cannot describe our feelings we had as we watched this giant storm make its way across the city.  Then we had to come home.  We actually came home a day early to see what we could do to help. ...
Read more

C: GIVEAWAY!! Our First Ever! Join the Fun!

Image
As promised in my last post, this is your chance to WIN!! If you read the previous post, you will see that I am intrigued by by-gone etiquette rules. I have two copies of this book, one dating from 1945 (for which you can all vie) and one from 1950. The questions I am asking below are from the 1950 book because I had not yet dug the other one out when I starting composing this one. The topics we cover in this quiz seem foreign to me, and we think they will to most of you, since the classes are so mixed up these days. Emily, herself, notes this trend. You can almost hear her sniff as she says in her introduction on Page xii: The smart and the near-smart...are all mixed up together. The walls that used to enclose the world that was fashionable are all down. Even the cartracks that divided cities into smart and not-smart sections are torn up. And, I must say, V and I probably hail from the "not-smart" side of the tracks...sigh. Okay, here are the rules (such as they are...
Read more

C: Lessons on a Bridge

Image
We have a graceful bridge over the Arkansas River, uniting the North and South of our metropolitan area from its western side.  I don’t travel this bridge very often—maybe three or four times a year—finding that my travels take me more east-west and, if I go north, I usually travel on the Eastern side of the loop. But this week I had court in another county, and the logical route home brought me by way of this bridge.  It was on that day (last Thursday), that something occurred to me.  Never —not one time, I’d venture to say—do I traverse this bridge without thinking of an incident that occurred there in 1999.  Yes, 13 years ago, and the incident is still in my mind every time I cross the bridge.  I told V about this, and she c onfirmed that she, too, often thinks of it. This young lady’s name is Carson Prince.  In 1999 she was  the nineteen-year-old daughter of two attorneys, one of them the former mayor of our city.  In April 1999 drivers...
Read more